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Posted on 06/19/2006 8:46:45 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
:')
Yes, the horse is at Bob's.
I'm really not ready for another horse...physically we don't have room to fit another one easily. We can make another stall, but I'm not sure the paddock arrangement with the lean-to would be all that safe with four, it'd be crowded.
And I'm not really ready to even bond with a new horse, but I have been thinking about it all night. I do think it would ease Bay's passing if I had the right replacement.... If anything can ease Bay's passing. Thinking about it fills me with dread!
But I don't want a horse that's gonna hurt me either...and Bob has pegged him as too much for him. He might just do the blowing prancing Arab stuff that Bob doesn't like, and Bob knows I do. I think he's pretty green, Bob said "he just needs some work." and "he needs someone that's going to work with him all the time".
I'll go look, and probably lunge him tonight or something... can't hurt to look... but I'm not really ready. Dammit I hope he's not beautiful. :~)
Well, he's probably gonna be, based on what you've already said...Black, fancy mover, long neck, probably pretty little A-rab head. You don't have a snowball's chance! ;o)
Speaking of buying new horses, I thought I'd tell you about an (IMO) interesting developing story.
I rode with Julia yesterday. Remember she is the one who tried Rusty. I took him to her house and he spooked at the Great Dane that jumped up on the fence, and that killed the sale.
I've slowly figured out that Julia is a very very un-confident rider. I knew she was bit that way, but everytime I ride with her it seems she is getting more shakey, or she's just been that shaky from the beginning and I just didn't notice.
Anyway yesterday she told me she has almost decided to sell the horse she has because he makes her so nervous. I've NEVER seen this horse do anything, react to anything. But then again she is always behind me, she won't go first anywhere....but then she tells me she wants to ride down the roads by her house...
We talked alot about it yesterday...is what makes her nervous about the horse is he looks at stuff and snorts alot...he doesn't jump around, or run off or buck, just snorts. I tried to tell her that if she just rode more often he'd probably stop that, and two, when he does do it, she needs to give him a little nudge, to get his attention off what ever is making him snort, and also, that every horse out there has a hole, she is not going to find a perfect horse. ( She should have bought Rusty:) It's kind of funny. That day that Rusty spooked at the dog, 1. I think ANY horse would have spooked at that, and 2. I also thought he handled the spook like a champ. Even Julia's husband said any horse with any sense would have spooked in that situation (and he's not a horse person), but Julia was adamant that her horse would NOT have spooked, never spooks, now is all I hear is she can't even ride him around her yard without him snorting...I'd like to know if he always did that, or if it's something that he's doing NOW because he picks up on her neverousness and she's feeding it.? Don't know.
Then she tells me that she has been looking at this other horse that is part draft horse...16 hands....I don't know, I don't think that will do much for her confidence....
It's just so hard to convince someone who is afraid that the more they ride, the better the horse will get, and the better they will get...It's like a vicious circle, they ride once (and I think this because it's a perfect picture of the way I was years ago), things go OK, but not perfect. So when you first get back you feel pretty good about the ride, then you go to bed that night and start to think about those things that weren't perfect and they build and build in your head, to where by the next day when you should be going again, you're so nervous you can't. But time works the other way to, after a week or two that fear subsides a bit and you try again, but by then you're again dealing with a horse that hasn't been rode consistently...and the whole thing starts again.
I told her and told her,,,keep this horse and ride more often, ride ride ride...I'm willing to go with her....we've been trying for months now to get together at least every Tues. and Thurs. When we got back she already had excuses why she couldn't come Thurs.....
I don't know, I don't mind helping someone like this at all....because I've been there, and had the help of several people. The difference is I went every chance I got once I had some help...Julia just seems to take 1 step forward, and 2 back...
Becky
She keeps getting back on though, Becky. That says a lot for her.
Well it won't hurt to look at the "Project". Just leave your checkbook at home and sleep on it.
I knew you'd say that:), and I do understand. I can't imagine now how we did it back when the kids were here and we had 6-10 horses up here. BUT, I was thinking about this already this morning and I do think you could handle one more...You could put a gate across the end of the lean too to make it a stall for one of them. When you turn them out, you always have their blankets on anyway, just shut it so they can't go in. It really doesn't hurt one to stand out in the weather during the day:).
Then being me, I'd probably keep the new one in the back forty by himself, at least till you had him going good, and even after that, only put one of the mares in with him every once in a while. But if you really can't stand for one to be by themselves, you can always put one mare, one gelding and rotate them around, in the different pens.
That's what I'd do:)
Bonding with a new horse is hard when you still have one around you like...I do understand....and it may be you won't really bond with it completely. I know with Harley, I didn't really care for him like I do now till I sold Rusty. But Harley is the reason I finally accepted that Rusty was not going to work for me....It's like even tho you don't "bond" having another does help.
Will Bob even ride the horse for you to watch? If he won't even climb on, I doubt I'd buy just from watching him lunge....
Becky
Good morning all. Still here and lurking, thanks for continuing to ping me.
Should have pictures before too long.
Trying to help people who just want the bad stuff to magically go away, without actually having to do anything about it themselves, is relly aggravating.
Oh dear - it's easier to solve the horse issues than it is the people issues isn't it?
To some degree, and this is coming from a fan of blowin' A'rabs, I'd be tempted to get her to accept that looking and blowing and snorting is what horses do, and she just needs to learn to accept and enjoy that or not ride. She probably thinks this draft is dumb and slow and so will never spook. But it will, she's trying to find something that doesn't exist. True, some spook more than others, and some are safer about it than others, but if all the current horse does is look and blow and never acts up badly, and she still wants to ride something that never sees anything and never reacts to anything it sees, she should ride a bicycle. Because she doesn't seem to like the one thing that makes riding a horse so pleasurable to me, and that's forming a relationship with the animal, learning his quirks, and learning to communicate with him to work through things. I know people who seem to want to ride, but never want the horse's personality to get in the way of the experience.
I know it says a lot for her. I'm not knocking her at all...I just don't know how to get thru to her that the problem is not really with the horse. It was a hard lesson for me to learn too, so I understand. Most horses will be a bit silly when they aren't rode enough.
I'm truly concerned, because she has regressed so much from when I first met her. I'm not sure how much longer she'll keep getting on, and I hate to see that happen with anyone. Getting a new horse isn't going to help, and IMO, could actually make it worse.
Becky
Becky's suggestion about the stabling arrangement sounds good to me. As for bonding with a new horse, you'll suprise yourself how quickly you'll do it, especially since he's going to be "your" horse. I still had Tennessee when I started riding Blade and Bob, and I'll have to admit, I did feel bad for a while when I went to load up and left him in the pasture, but I don't think he felt "bad" or neglected in any way. He was getting to enjoy his retirement. Horses (and cats) are addictive to me. I love messing with them, so the more the merrier, as long as I can afford to take care of them properly.
Boy you hit the nail on the head with that one, but I don't know how you can help her realize that though. Just hang in there and keep on inviting her to ride and hopefully she'll get over it. How old is this horse she has now?
Tell her I talk to myself or sing when I'm trying to figure out if the horse is nervous or if I'm making her nervous. I find I can't do both at the same time:') That's my test anyway.
Using the leanto as a stall is one option I guess... Not bad... but I don't know... I don't know what the horse dynamics would be like and it stresses me out... His temperament and ease to be around is an unknown. It could be that he'll just upset the peaceful balance around here and I'm protective of Bay... Bay's so studly, I don't want him to be around another boy that's going to challenge his domain as he gets older, I don't want him pushed around by some young wippersnapper :~) These are all issues I'll have to deal with eventually, unless Bay just falls over dead and leaves an opening... but I'm not ready! Not even sure if we have the money, and honey doesn't really want to talk seriously about any of it... Did I mention his price? He's not expensive... $1500, but that's still a chunk of change.
Bob's never been on the horse and probably won't. He was in training with Lisa, his DIL... and even though Lisa was thinking he might work for Bob, I think Bob's decided he's not good for him already, and is now just helping her sell him. He's really owned by someone else who just wanted to get rid of him quickly, or at least stop paying board on him at Lisa's if he's not going to be a Nationals caliber show horse. Lots of great horses wash out of Lisa's training program, she only takes horses that are at a really high level. Her horses and students are within reach of the top ten at Nationals every year.
This is Julia and Major.
Becky
HHHMMMMMMM.....MO:)........if you know you are really not ready to buy, I wouldn't go look. I also wouldn't buy unless you saw someone else ride him...and I make the ride be more then just around a paddock. Would Lisa go with you on a trail ride with him? If she won't do that, I wouldn't buy. Just me tho.
$1500 isn't bad for a horse that age, as long as he can do what you want.
I knew how you are protective of Bay and don't want him pushed around...I had that in mind when I developed my "keeping him at your house" plan:), and also because I like keeping new horses by themselves for a while anyway. IMO, that's a big plus to them bonding with you.
Becky
And I just thought of this. If you keep the new horse in the back 40 when he is turned out, you won't have 4 horses in the lean to during the day...you wouldn't have to shut it off. A young horse like him, I KNOW can handle the weather thru the day:)
Becky
Lisa going for a ride, or even riding him for me isn't an option... Wish it was! She's in Oregon. Bob picked him up from there. And I can't even really send him back to her for training... she doesn't have time for people who aren't paying top dollar :~D If I thought I wanted someone else to ride him for me, I'd have to find someone local.
Bob stressed that he'd be a project... down the road... that he's not the horse I want right now, but that he might grow into it if I worked with him a couple years. He's not gonna be good right out of the box. He's been on a little trail, but he's green. He's probably fairly hot, but probably not too bad, or Lisa would not have thought he'd be good for Bob. He acted up for the farrier, but not so bad that Mark doesn't want to work with him, as I guess Mark really thought selling him to me was a good idea :~) They talked about me, and Bay quite a bit. Bob likes Bay almost as much as me, but he knows he's getting older and that I have a decision in front of me... and I guess Mark said "Bay needs to retire sooner than she thinks". I guess Mark thinks I need to be told that.
REally...that surprises me...I just thought he looked and acted fine. Is it because of his feet, they think that?
Too bad about Lisa being so far away:(.
Well, about buying this guy....I guess the main thing you need to think about, is how committed you are to really working with one....IMO, that would be a very important consideration. Keeping in mind you are going into winter:(...If you want to keep the horse to at least what he already knows you'd have to work him this winter, no shutting down the horse activities with him:)...and, IMO, it would be a more then once a week thing....for best results I'd think 3 times a week...
Becky
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